&amp;#147;Marx&amp;#146;s political philosophy is a mixture of German Philosophy, French Politics and British economics.&amp;#148; Do you agree?

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Introduction

"Marx's political philosophy is a mixture of German Philosophy, French Politics and British economics." Do you agree? Marxism has certainly been influenced by German philosophers like Hegel and French politics like the example of the French revolution, French politics like the example of the French revolution and he has studied the capitalism of British economics. A synthesis of all these elements produces contradictions and uncertainties in the very large and complicated ideology of Marxism. Marx's dialectical philosophy was derived from George Hegel's version of the dialectic. Hegel was an idealist, his believed that the metaphysical progress of man's collective consciousness to understand itself was reflected in the sequential reality of history. This model begins with an existing element, or thesis, with contradictions inherent to its structure. These contradictions unwittingly create the thesis' direct opposite, or antithesis, bringing about a period of conflict between the two. The new element, or synthesis, that emerges from this conflict then discovers its own internal contradictions, and starts the process anew. ...read more.

Middle

Marx was influenced greatly by French politics as it endorsed his theory, along with England's Glorious Revolution of 1649, that the dialectical process was moved on by revolution, rather than Hegel's view of a more evolutionary process. In 1788, when the French had lost four out of five wars, the final war with Canada and an involvement with the American Ware of Independence which led to the bankruptcy of France. Before the French revolution, France was made from three estates and a king. The king could only tax the third estates, but after these wars were forces to impose a tax on the first and second estates. Revolution began when the upper two estates refused to pay tax and recalled parliament where they could achieve an almost certain victory as it needed two of the three houses. Some of estates one and two defected to three, who refuse to go home until they are recognised at Parliament. Just as the third estate needed the help of estates one and two, Marx said that when Capitalism moves to Communism, the Proletariat will need the help of the Bourgeoisie. ...read more.

Conclusion

It is quite amenable that Marx synthesised German philosophy, British economic theory and French revolutionary ideas into his philosophy. Marx used German philosophers like Hegel to produce his dialectic and another German philosopher Feuerbach that influenced Marx's idea of materialist and which he synthesised to make his 'historical materialism'. The idea of 'historical materialism seems perfectly feasible and scientific when combined with historical examples of French politics like the French revolution. Marx uses the French revolution because it illustrates the transition of a feudal society to a capitalist. In addition to enforcing his previous idea of historical materialism, it also provides a foundation to the third speculation upon the economics of Britain. Marx examined workers' conditions and predicted a systematic development of innovation and new financial techniques which increase trade and prosperity but also create conflict and place strain on the society because they can no longer contain it. Thus, Marx establishes the final conclusion from capitalism to communism that is drawn from historical and scientific evidence. On this basis, it is clear that Marx's political philosophy is an amalgamation of these factors. ...read more.

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